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11 Social Media Recruiting Statistics to Make You Rethink Your Current Strategies

It is clear that social media is the future of the candidate search, whether it be for direct hire staffing or contract hire creative staffing. A study from the Aberdeen Group revealed that millennials, in particular, are driving this shift in social recruitment practices: The group reported that a significant majority of young people – 73 percent – in the 18-34 age group found their last position through a social media platform. Other social media recruiting statistics seem to confirm the increased usage of social media in the recruiting industry. According to Capterra, just under 95 percent of companies are using social media for recruiting purposes.

“73% of millennials found their last position through a social media site.”

While this is a fantastic indication of things to come, companies should take note of the fact that simply recruiting through social media may not be enough to secure the very best talent. There are effective and ineffective ways of using social media, and the best approach for hiring managers and human resources teams looking to optimize their social media recruiting strategy is to pull out all of the stops: Every base and every social platform must be covered, with equal attention given to each one. Below are 10 social media recruiting statistics that affirm that diversity is key to any successful social media recruiting strategy.

Diversity is Key to Social Media Recruiting Success

LinkedIn is popular with employers, given that its primary focus is professional networking. Jobcast found that well over 93 percent of companies use LinkedIn to connect with and hire new talent, but that less than half of all job seekers – just 36 percent – actually have a LinkedIn account. Furthermore, just 14 percent of users reportedly check their account on a regular basis. Therefore, it is obvious that if an organization’s social media recruiting strategy involves just LinkedIn, they are likely missing out on some great candidates.

LinkedIn should not be ignored though. Capterra found that nearly 90 percent of surveyed companies had successfully hired a candidate through the social network.

It is important for organizations to market their company and job openings through the Facebook “Jobs” tab. Jobcast notes that Facebook still remains one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 80 percent of job seekers using the site on a frequent basis.

Men – especially those over the age of 45 – tend to favor LinkedIn, with 70 percent of its user base being male, according to Jobcast.

Employers looking to target female candidates should consider a two-pronged social media approach involving both Facebook and Pinterest. This is because Jobcast found that women tend to favor Facebook – 58 percent reported using the service. More significantly, the vast majority – over 80 percent – of Pinterest users are women!

High caliber candidates are found via a social media search. According to BusinessWest, employers that are successfully using social media for recruiting employees note a near 50 percent increase in candidate quality.

For recruiters looking to hire millennials, ages 18-34, Twitter is by far the most effective platform. Twitter reported that up to 45 percent of its entire user base was under the age of 30.

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Other Facts for Social Media Recruiting

While it is important for employers to focus on harnessing an array of social platforms already available, it is equally necessary for organizations to look for more innovative approaches to recruiting through social media: Phone apps, video content and image heavy advertisements could be the key to catching a fantastic candidate’s attention.

Mobile job search continues to rise, not only through Google searches and mobile websites but also through mobile job search apps. Up to 45 percent of applicants have used their phones to search for a job. There is a clear gap in the market for job search apps that allow candidates to apply for positions in a much faster way. Consider your application process. Is it optimized for mobile?

Video content is particularly powerful at attracting the attention of job seekers and could be the future of recruitment. However, only a few companies actually mine this potential. Jobcast found that job advertisements garner nearly 40 percent more interest if they have a video.

Images are also key. It has been reported that 40 percent of people respond better to content that is image heavy. According to Buffer, social media posts accompanied by visuals are shared 40 times more than plain text posts. Since most people tend to retain information better with the help of visuals, it is important to incorporate images in your social media recruiting strategy.

Hashtags have also become a great social strategy for attracting candidates. According to Fast Company, #jobs has become the most widely employed news-based hashtag, beating #ISIS and #Quran.

What to Do with These Social Media Recruiting Statistics?

As the above social media recruiting statistics to demonstrate, it is obvious that digital technology and social media platforms are the future of job recruitment. Organizations keen to hire the finest talent should invest considerable time and effort in devising a comprehensive social media recruiting strategy. But implementing the right social media recruiting strategy can be tedious. If you having difficulties creating your campaign, contact Profiles and see how our veteran marketing & creative staffing agency can fill your staffing needs with qualified candidates that align with your culture.